8/7/2019 Big Fat Gypsy Wedding Reveal 12-18 feb2011 http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/big-fat-gypsy-wedding-reveal-12-18-feb2011 1/2 Ea}-f, l.'a D. {.{a/'itr''{*- r i iil,r' 1 WE'I weillos ll usl TVI Big FatGypsyWeddings hisenthralled the nation, butthe realityofTraveller Iife has been hidden under those giant pinkdresses, says Caroline* hen Caroline (not her real name) went to her local priest recently to arrange her son's First Holy Communion, she was turned away. And she soon worked out why. Since the TV documentary series Brg Fot G ypsy Weddings began on C4 last month, she believes the Traveller community has been tainted - a view shared, she says, by many other Travellers. ln order to speak out, Caroline has insisted on being anonymous, for fear of reprisals from families featured in the show. 'lt's mad, but just saying these things could get me killedi says Caroline, who is in her 30s. 'lf I were identified, l'd have to go into hiding with my children. Disrespecting people in the community ends in big fist fights. 'You're not allowed to criticise another fumily. They would say: "Who are you to contradict me and myfamily?"' At first, the mum-of-seven was Christine Bleakley sentuptheshow on Daybreak a TV series about her community. She says: 'l thought it was good that people would be made aware of Travellers. We suffer a lot of discrimination. You're always scared that the neighbours will find out who you are and the kids willget bullied. 'We can't even book wedding receptions under our real names. lfthe venue finds out, they cancel. Just because one lot ofTravellers trashed somewhere, everyone else has to suffer.' Now, though, she feels the show has been an embarrassment for Travellers.'Millions have watched it, but all anyone is talking about are the dresses. We're a laughing stock,'she says. 'When Christine Bleakley wore a big pink wedding dress on Doybreok, it was very insulting. You wouldn't dare laugh at an lndian woman in a sari. 'Lots of Travellers phoned up the programme to say that we aren't like that. But it's too late. 'They haven't shown the weddings and Communions where Travellers wear normal dresses. Even the show's name is wrong. Most of the families on the show are lrish Travellers, not gypsies. Gypsies are Englishl Caroline wishes the show had shown the harsher side of Traveller life. t' Her own life has been far from easy. One of 10 siblings, she was born in London. She has an lrish accent, but has never been to lreland and has always lived in a house.'lt's rubbish that we choose to live in houses -Travellers can't get on to the sites any more and are forced to live in houses. There aren't enough pitches and councils refuse to make new ones. I used to dress for First Communion, itwas a hand-me-down or borrowed. 'l didn't agree with the family on the show who did the Communion service when the little girl was six - she was far too young. Letting her get a spray tan was disgusting, too. And she shouldn't have been shown on TV in her knickers.' Like many of the girls on the show, Caroline left school aged 13 to help her mother raise her siblings, and at 17 she married a fellow Traveller. She has suffered domestic violence and has spent time in women's refuges. 'l didn't want to stay in school, I just wanted to get married like all the other girls. My wedding dress was big and white, but not as big as the ones in the show. Only girls who had run awaywith a bloke didn't wear a white dress. 'l've been through hell. I can't go travelling about in the summer fit literacy classes in around with the children, just to give them cooking, cleaning and caring for that feeling of being a Traveller.' the kids. The man of the house Her own First Communion is not supposed to help, which is was nothing like the elaborate frustrating. lf you say something, exhibitions shown on the TV it causes trouble. l'm trying to show. 'l went to a Catholic school, bring my boys up to be more where you learnt your prayers and responsible and considerate. recited them. You didn't get a big I want things to change.' Caroline feels these issues were lost on the show. 'ltt all been about laughing at us. Many Travellers are very religious, but they've just shown kids dancing around in revealing clothes. That isn't Traveller culture. 'Those little girls have watched their older sisters dancing to Beyonc6. A lot ofthe party clothes have been copied from shows like Strictly Come Doncing, and the wedding dresses from Jordan. 'l don't think the families realised how it would come across. And I think some of the Travellers exaggerated things, like the boy who claimed you can drink from the age of I 1 . I bet he feels silly now. Really, they've all been exploited by the cameras.' Caroline strongly believes the show will only cause trouble for Britai n's Travel lers.'Social services are sure to be talking to some of the families featured. lt's made it harder for the rest of us. Everyone is talking aboutTravellers now - but for all the wrong reasons.'El @ " read and write properly. l can't .,t t:t